Until this breathless, quite brilliant encounter reached its
extraordinary climax, a conversation between Michael Owen and Sir Alex
Ferguson about derby winners would have been limited to events on Epsom
Downs.

But that all changed 50 minutes and 20 seconds into a second
half of football as exceptional as anything seen at Old Trafford.

That
all changed when Owen concluded his own cameo performance with a goal
that settled a contest which even Ferguson now considers the greatest
Manchester derby in history.

What a thoroughbred: Owen (centre) avoids the despairing challenge of
Shaun Wright-Phillips to calmly shoot past Shay Given for a dramatic derby winner

Ferguson will adore Owen for this, in
much the same way he adores Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for what he did on
that remarkable night in Barcelona.

Because, until a finish Ferguson
declared 'world class', until Owen again demonstrated his ability to
score big goals in big games, this had been the stuff of nightmares for United's manager.

City were so much more than mere 'noisy neighbours';
so much more than a side that could be dismissed as 'cocky, arrogant
and stupid'.

They proved to be serious title contenders and a team that
could yet force Ferguson into doing something drastic if he is as
determined as he claims to ensure his side never go into these meetings
as underdogs while he is still breathing.

One-nil: Wayne Rooney opens the scoring in just the second minute

If Mark Hughes' side continue
to perform in this way, the day when the bookies back City could arrive
sooner than Ferguson anticipated. Like April 17, when United travel to
Eastlands for what promises to be another cracker against a City side
which might have Emmanuel Adebayor and Robinho up front.

City lost on
this occasion and that owed as much to their defenders as it did to the
sheer determination of a side that will fight to the very end to defend
their English title.

But there were times when United were second-best
and Hughes looked so right when he dared suggest United were not the
same now Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez have moved on.

Tevez was
terrific, ignoring the boos and a lack of fitness to deliver a display
that would have been perfect had he not squandered one first-half
chance with a shot that bounced off a post.

For long periods City were
the better team in crucial areas: in midfield, where Gareth Barry,
Nigel De Jong and Stephen Ireland dominated their opponents in much the
same way they had Arsenal, and further forward, where the superb wing
play of Craig Bellamy and Shaun Wright-Phillips exposed Ferguson's
failure to find a decent replacement for the world's best player.

It
was City playing the more expansive, inventive football; United who
seemed far too reliant on the wonderful Wayne Rooney.

It was not until
Ferguson ordered Ryan Giggs to stretch Micah Richards down the left
that United began to look like their old selves.

The difference in
Giggs proved decisive, with the 35-year-old emerging as the man of the
match in his 30th Manchester derby.

United made a spectacular start.
They struck after less than two minutes when Rooney ran on to a ball
from Patrice Evra, danced between Kolo Toure and De Jong and guided his
shot past Shay Given.

But then came the turning point, when Ben Foster
just about ended any hope of becoming England's keeper, when he failed
to make a simple clearance, allowed Tevez to tackle him and looked on
in horror as his former team-mate played the ball into the path of
Barry to convert an easy 16th-minute equaliser.

Two good: Craig Bellamy after his second goal

The goal represented a
shift in power. Suddenly, City were in control, and so nearly in front
when Toure and Ireland combined to present Tevez with that opportunity
to punish his old club.

If the first half was sensational, the second
was simply spectacular. First, a 49th-minute headed Darren Fletcher
goal that exploited Wayne Bridge's deficiencies as a defender; then the
first of two exquisite equalisers from the irrepressible Bellamy.

United held the lead for just three minutes when they backed off
Bellamy and invited him to beat Foster with a 20-yard curling effort.

Given twice denied Dimitar Berbatov before pushing a volley from Giggs
over the bar. But when Toure allowed Fletcher to meet a cross from
Giggs with another thumping header, there was nothing Given could do
and United again regained the lead at 3-2.

City refused to accept
defeat, and duly punished an unfit Rio Ferdinand for his carelessness
with a few seconds of normal time remaining.

He conceded possession
cheaply to Martin Petrov before losing a sprint with Bellamy, who then
exposed yet more weaknesses in Foster's game by beating him at his near
post.

That seemed a fair conclusion to a thriller. But then came a goal
celebration that lasted 45 seconds, the substitution that meant it
would be longer still before Martin Atkinson blew his final whistle,
and yet another ball from Giggs that Owen controlled with one touch
before guiding the ball past Given.

Hughes turned on the fourth
official, Gary Neville taunted City fans, Bellamy appeared to belt a
United supporter who had invaded the pitch and Ferguson marched back to
the dressing room, as relieved as he would have been ecstatic.